


Nothin' Like Dealin' With A Really Cranky Captain

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-04
Updated: 2006-03-04
Packaged: 2018-08-15 23:05:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8076391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: The boys fight, then make up. Archer/Tucker ER. Postep, 2.16 "Future Tense." (02/22/2003)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

  
Author's notes: I follow where the plot bunny leads. Some of my stories may be a continuation of earlier fables, but this one is brand new and totally stands alone.  


* * *

Trip didn't need to be run over by a steamroller to know that Jonathan Archer was pissed, what he didn't know was why.

Okay, maybe they didn't still have the time ship, or whatever it was, but neither did the Suliban or the Tholian's, so that was no reason for Archer to twist his boxer's all up in a bunch, but captain had been definitely cranky over lunch. Something was up. Not that he was overt about it, in fact Archer made a considerable effort to be really, really civil, rationally explaining all about the mechanics of time travel and everything. The captain had been so calm that Trip doubted if even the ever observant T'Pol noticed that anything was amiss, but Trip knew better. He hadn't been Jonny's lover for the last five years for nothing, and he recognized the fury that lay smoldering in the depths of those hazel eyes. What made things worse was that Trip knew that he was the cause of all that anger, but for the life of him he couldn't imagine why. Trip ran through a mental checklist of the last few days but he couldn't come up with anything that would account for the current situation. Still, something was out of whack with the captain and Tucker was bound and determined to find out what. Unfortunately Trip wouldn't be able to start his detective work until the repairs to his warp drive were finished, but the second he was free Trip was gonna get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Several hours later a sweaty, grimy and tired, right down to the bone Trip Tucker showed up outside Jonathan Archer's door. All Trip wanted to do was crawl into bed and let the oblivion of sleep overtake him, but there was no way he could do that, not yet. Not until he had it out with Jon, so Trip pushed his weariness aside rang the bell, determined not to move until either Jon answered the door or the bell wore out from continuous use, whichever came first. After a couple of minutes of constant ringing Archer cracked and the door slid open.

Trip could see that Jon was still pissed. The captain wasn't even trying to hide his hostility now, but Archer said nothing, he simply stood aside to make room for Trip to enter. In fact, Jon was acting like he'd been expecting Trip, and upon reflection Trip figured that maybe he was. The pair had been a couple for so long that they could easily read each other's moods, and could predict the other's actions. Too bad they couldn't read each other's minds, Trip thought ruefully, then the coming confrontation could be avoided, but there were no easy outs. Trip was going to have to get his answers the hard way. "What the hell's goin' on, Jonny?"

Archer didn't answer immediately, knowing that if he did that they would be on the road to "working things out" and Jon was nowhere near ready to let his fury go. But he knew damn well that Trip wasn't going to leave until Jon started to "fess up" so Archer gave in to his anger and began to vent. "What the hell were you thinking going down that ladder! Were you out of your mind?"

"Ladder?" Trip was lost. Why would his walking down a ladder get Jon all worked up into a hissy fit? Then Trip understood. Jon was referring to the ladder within the alien ship. The ship that was bigger on the inside than the outside.

Seeing that Trip was now caught up Jon continued on with his rant. "You knew damn well that ladder led to something outside of known physics yet you went right on down into that dark hole without a clue as to what you might find, and you wouldn't even let Malcolm call me for backup. You could have been killed!"

Oh, Malcolm was the one who was gonna be dead, Trip thought, and very soon too. Obviously he was the one who ratted him out to the captain, but Tucker knew that he was going to have to deal with Reed later. Right now his Jonny was still pacing back and forth, still raving all the way.

"Then, when the launch bay doors started to open, I knew we had unwelcome visitors and when I called you from the bridge I got no answer." Jon stopped his frenzied attempts to wear a hole in the deck plating and stared at Trip, so deeply that his gaze might reach into Tucker's very soul. "Do you have any idea what that did to me, Trip? Any idea at all?"

"You have got to be kiddin'!" Now Trip was beginning to get a little hot under the collar himself. "You're actin' like you've gotta corner on the worryin' market. Well, I'll have you know Jonathan Archer that you've put me through the wringer just as many times since this mission began!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

Jon clutched Trip around the shoulders, intending to shake some sense into the stubborn man. "Trip, you scare the hell out of me practically every day. My little escapades don't hold a candle to yours."

Trip was surprised by the intensity in Jon's eyes but the engineer refused to be distracted from his own anger and fought to defend himself. "There haven't been that many."

"Like hell!" Jon's grip on Trip's shoulders tightened as his anger intensified. "Three weeks into the mission you get stoned on alien pollen and almost die, then you get pistol whipped by an Andorian terrorist, then you nearly freeze to death in a shuttlepod..."

Trip had opened his mouth several times in a vain attempt to stop the tirade, but Archer kept right on going. "Then you got stunned by that big eared alien when they were after my 'so called gold', then you were kidnapped by a hologram, then you were slimed by an alien, then you nearly died of heat stroke..."

Trip had given up on the folly of trying to interrupt Archer. The captain was hardly in the mood to listen to the reality of his arguments, like the fact that Archer had nearly died from both the creature and their jaunt in the desert as well, so Trip decided to bide his time. Archer would run out of gas and then Trip would get his chance.

It's a good thing that Trip gave up because Archer's tidal wave of anger roared right on. "Then you and Malcolm get stunned at a nightclub, then you and a princess get kidnapped by a criminal and finally you get trapped on a moon with a violent alien, intent on beating the crap out of you. Damn it, Trip! Why do you have to be so reckless?"

"I'm reckless?" That was just too damn much. Trip broke out of Archer's grip and backed away several feet to give himself room. "You've got a hell of a lot of nerve, Jonny boy! You've been in just as many situations as I have!"

"Have not!" Archer didn't seem to be aware that he was repeating himself but Trip didn't want to travel down that same old road. It was his turn.

"Now you listen to me, Jonathan Archer, why don't we add up the score the right way." Trip held up a finger. "One, you get shot in the leg on our very first mission. Two, you end up danglin' off an underground cliff on Terra Nova. Three, you got yourself beat up by the Andorian's way more than me. Four, you nearly suffocate when Silik opened the launch bay doors to get away after killin' Daniels."

Now it was Archer's turn to try to interrupt but Trip was not going to let that happen. "Five..." Tucker was still punctuating each count with raising a finger. "You get yourself kidnapped by a bunch of rebels. Six, you got hit by those big eared aliens too. Seven, you're beat up in prison. Eight, you get yourself lost nine hundred years in the future. Nine, you nearly die when that mine explodes. Ten, you nearly get HANGED and finally, number ELEVEN, you end up runnin' around in a war zone with a bunch of Vulcan's! That's eleven times that you've nearly gotten yourself killed since this mission started and I'm not even countin' the two near misses that you had with me so I really don't think you've got anythin' to complain about in the worryin' department, I've had plenty of that to deal with myself!"

As Tucker's anger intensified during "The Great Count" Archer found his leaking out of him like a punctured balloon. Here he'd been blaming Trip for being reckless and he'd been doing the same thing. Still, Archer felt the need to make one more feeble attempt to defend himself. "At least I didn't end up pregnant." Enterprise's mighty captain muttered.

Sensing Archer's change in attitude Trip's stance softened. "That could be arranged." The engineer whispered, a smile now tugging at his lips. "I have friends in high places and they can get your hands into a box of pebbles real quick."

"Oh yeah?" Jon too began to smile as he closed the gap between them. Slowly he rubbed his hands across Tucker's chest, before sliding them around the engineer's torso, then finally cupping them around Trip's ass. "There's something else I'd rather stick my hands into." Archer's wicked tone instinctively sent a shiver across Tucker's skin as the captain wantonly ran a digit up and down Trip's cloth covered cleft.

There was only one thing to do. Tucker pulled Jon toward him and kissed him, hard, and that ignited a night of passion of the like that the couple had never experienced before.

Later, Trip slumbered peacefully while wrapped up in his lover's arms but for Jon sleep was far from coming. Despite their happy resolution to their argument, several issues were raised by the fight, issues that were going to have to be addressed and soon, before either of them went mad.

"It'll all work out, Darlin'."

Jon looked down at his lover to find a sleepy gaze of blue blinking right back him. "What will?"

"You worryin' about me, me worryin' about you."

Archer sighed, tightening his grip on his lover. Sometimes it seemed that Trip was a mind reader. "How can that be, Baby. As much as I love this ship and treasure this mission, I love you more, and this voyage has turned out to be so much more dangerous than I thought it would be."

"Yeah but we've learned so much and come so far and in such a short time too. Hell, you even had the Vulcan's asking YOU for help with the Andorian's. We're makin' a difference out here Jonny, isn't that the important thing?"

"Sure it is." Archer affirmed. "I'm proud of this ship and this crew. I just don't want you to be the one to pay the price for each of our discoveries."

"Or you either, Darlin', but risk is part of the job and this life isn't one I'd trade for anything. I learned that while cookin' on that moon with Zho'Kaan. Still, no matter what happens, I'm not really worried."

Archer knew that Trip was totally dedicated to humanity's presence in space, but he'd never heard his lover sound so determined before. "Why not?"

Trip snuggled in closer, resting his head on Jon's shoulder and staring deeply into Archer's eyes. "Because you and I are soul mates Darlin' and be it here or on the other side, we are gonna be together, forever. That much I'm sure of. You've gotta have faith, Jonny. Faith in what we're doin' out here. Faith that everythin' is gonna turn out okay. Faith in us."

Jon sighed at Trip's words and for the first time the tight band that had been surrounding his heart for weeks faded away. Trip was right. Their love was so strong that it could survive anything, even death. Jon could let go of his worry and really enjoy his life out here in the final frontier, secure in the knowledge that, no matter what, Trip would always be with him.

Faith. Yeah, Jon could do that.


End file.
